George Cole

When Los Angeles prosecutors filed charges against Bell officials in 2010, it inspired celebrations and rallies in the small working-class city. At the time, anger over the allegations of widespread corruption burned hot. Many also were embarrassed Bell had become, literally, the answer to a "Jeopardy" question on public graft. On Wednesday, when five former City Council members were convicted of misappropriating public funds, the reaction throughout Bell was mixed. PHOTOS: Bell trial verdicts For some, the verdict brought relief that all but one ex-politician on trial had been found guilty of something. Others were angry that the jury deadlocked on so many counts and found...

Related "George Cole" Articles

When Los Angeles prosecutors filed charges against Bell officials in 2010, it inspired celebrations and rallies in the small working-class city.
At the time, anger over the allegations of widespread corruption burned hot. Many also were embarrassed...

A Los Angeles jury convicted five of six former council members of stealing from the working-class city of Bell in a corruption scandal that became a national synonym for outrageous municipal salaries and rogue governance.
The verdict Wednesday came on...

The new boss kept his office spartan and impersonal, the walls stripped of photos, the desk conveying no hint of his life beyond the red-brick walls of City Hall. It was 1993, a bleak, recession-bit year, and Robert Rizzo arrived in Bell trailing the...

Reporting from Los Angeles and Auburn, Wash. — The lifestyle that Robert Rizzo enjoyed during his run as Bell city manager included a stable full of thoroughbreds, among them a gelding named Depenserdel'argent — French for "spend money."
And...